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YORKTOWN, N.Y. - A tow-truck driver was an unwitting participant in the grand larceny of a parked car
last month
, but the 38-year-old Peekskill man was charged nonetheless for his alleged role in the incident, Yorktown police said.

On Nov. 18, a 24-year-old Peekskill man reportedly posed as the owner of a parked car and called Donald Bendetto to have it towed to a nearby recycling center, according to the police report.

The actual owner of the car told police his car had broken down in the BJ's Wholesale Club parking lot around Nov. 12. He returned to the car several times throughout the week to make repairs, but when he returned Nov. 18, his car was nowhere to be found, police said.

Police later learned that John Simmons had allegedly stolen the car and sold it for scrap after it was crushed at a nearby metal recycling center, police said.

Bendetto was reportedly unaware of the theft, but he allegedly completed false documentation in order to have the car scrapped, according to the report. Bendetto was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree, a misdemeanor. He was released without bail and due back in court on Jan. 22.

In other police blotter news:

Danny Erazo, 29, of Peekskill, faces felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly using a stolen credit card to buy items from two stores in the Jefferson Valley Mall, police said. On Nov. 23, police said Erazo allegedly bought merchandise from Macy's and Foot Locker with a credit card belonging to a female victim, according to the report. Erazo was charged Dec. 12 with felony criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, misdemeanor petty larceny, and misdemeanor identity theft in the third degree. He was remanded to Westchester County Jail without bail.